The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1887-11-18

asmnil tuimlnhtink c4p \ niue over NJ
inch long. II had been allcd with ful-
inmate Of mercury. and q small fuse.
which is usually attached 10 these In
struments Of death. had been touched
on BY Lineg.
The candles were furnished By the
jail. 90 that the caps must have been
put In by Ling himself.
At2aS Lingg died.
THE EXECUTION.
eft lacked Just seven minutes Of noon
when q single white shrouded figure.
shove which was n face Of yeilowish
pallor, the face Of August Spies. passed
the first post OF the gallows. The gap
ing crowd ten feet below involuntarily
half rose from their chairs At the first
glimpse Of the appariton. Advancing
across the scaffold spies looked calm
and glanced at the reporters with
trace Of his old time cynical smile. and
he walked firmly over the drop, guided
by the grasp OF deputy TO the front
edge OF the gallows. Following close
came Fischer, whose couptenance had
apeculiar gllsten totally unlike the ash
iness OF Engle's dreary features and In
strange contrast with the dead look
color In the pinched lineaments OF Par
sons. The once jaunty vivaeious Tex
an came last, a withered old man. He
had aged twenty years since the day
and hour scarcely twelve months be-
fore, when he tripped lightly into court
before Judge Garry aud filppantly de-
clared that he WA ready to be tried ut
once for his life. The minute his feet
touched the scaffold, Parsons seemed to
have completely lost his identity, and
the feeling of the spirit was no longer
q part Of his body. He had brought
himself TO an estacy Of solemn self
glorification. He the only American,
seemed to realize to full extent that
he must die In manner TO impress, IL
possible, on all future generations the
thought that he WAS martyred. No
tradgedian that ever paced the stages
of America ever made such n presen-
tation OF self-chosen part perfect In
every detail. The upward turning OF
his eyes; his distant, far.away look,
and above all The apparent complete
resignation that every fold Of the
awkward shroud only served to make
more distinct, was by far the most
striking feature of the entire gallows
picture. The squat form Of Engel
alongside, his stupid, wide-jawed, face
made a bidious contrast to Parsons
assumption OF q halo OF q martyr.
Fischer was head and shoulders taller
than the other three, making his only
occasional looks OF too evident brava-
do more noticeable than might other
wise be, and ut q sorry disadvantage
compared with the steady coolness Of
Spies. The latter's exhibition of quiet,
thorough nerye, far surpassed, as y
wonder the demeanor of any of his CON-
rades.
Four burly deputies standing TO the
rear OF the four condemned men began
without delay TO adjust the ropes.
Spies moose being the one first placed.
He did not appear to regard IL OF any
more consequence than new collar.
The knot was slipped down tie cord
close against his neck. Spies did not
show q tremor, but when the same pro-
cess was being carried out with Fischer
he turned and quietly whispered to the
bailiff some suggestion concerning the
knot. Fischer's occasional ardor wins
quite noticeably lessened when he felt
the hempen strand. Engel bit bis un-
der lip when his turn came. Just then
DR.. Murphy, physician standing back
of Engel, whispering, cracked Q joke
In Engel's ear. Incredible rs 1t may
seem, the low -browcd anarchist laugh
ed outright with the rope around his
neck. and while another was being
fastened on Parsons by his side; but
the grotesque laugh stopped In a single
instant and Parsons meekly rs q saint
cast his eyes upward at the dangling
line above him. Before the four an
archists had an iukllng what was 10 be
done, while the caps were slipped upon
their heads and drawn quickly down
to their necks. shutting of the view of
each completely, and with less warning
than does the camera cloth of q photo
grapher. August Spies was the first of